


a spot of blush

by orphan_account



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: M/M, okay so lol, this is the makeup-artist-in-love-with-famous-actor fic that no one asked for, you're welcome lmao
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-20
Updated: 2017-02-15
Packaged: 2018-09-10 15:57:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8923357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: kyungsoo was breathtaking, even in the early hours of the haziest, most desolate mornings.





	1. prologue

**Author's Note:**

> i love my boys

kyungsoo plopped himself, albeit ungracefully, into a plush chair, as thick and dark as the night sky. his thoughts fluttered listlessly over suyoung, his makeup artist and most treasured companion. suyoung had gotten married the year before to zhang yixing, a distant coworker of kyungsoo's that he was not entirely close to but had heard a great deal about. not two months after they tied the knot, suyoung broke the news of their pregnancy to the world (kyungsoo first, of course).

kyungsoo still remembered how wide and watery her eyes had grown, how her rosy lips had stretched into the most genuine of smiles. something swelled in kyungsoo's chest to see her so joyful, and they had celebrated the rest of the night with fervor.

now, suyoung was very, very pregnant, a water balloon on the brink of combustion, and kyungsoo was in dire need of a new makeup artist who would successfully fill the ten-month gap that was to be suyoung's maternity leave. kyungsoo's agent, sohee, promised that the artist she had hired would do the job without any hiccups whatsoever.

kyungsoo swivelled his chair around to the mirror before him. the harsh lighting surrounding the frame cast a deep glow on his tired face, accentuating his perpetual bedhead, swollen lips, and profound eye bags. whoever sohee was bringing in required an awful lot of skill to fix this mess.

the door banged open, and in rushed sohee, dressed in her usual navy blazer and tasteful heels, a weary but honest smile etched onto her face. how did one look so prim and put-together at such an early hour? "kyungsoo."

kyungsoo hesitantly tipped his head. "sohee noona."

sohee took a deep, quiet breath. "i know suyoung holds a very special place in your heart, but i have every confidence that chanyeol will do just as well. and, if he does not suffice, she will be back in ten months or so. you'll be fine."

the dark shadow behind the gaping doorframe cleared as chanyeol stepped cautiously into the room. his enormous frame, all lean muscle and silver hair, bowed slightly at both kyungsoo and sohee. the rustle of his dark hoodie as he straightened his back caught kyungsoo's attention. he regarded chanyeol with parted lips and bloodshot eyes.

chanyeol looked at kyungsoo, at his droopy red mouth and crinkled eyes. his white shirt was rumpled all down the middle and his hair looked as though he hadn't brushed it a day in his life. chanyeol thought that kyungsoo was the prettiest thing that he had ever seen.


	2. eyeliner

sohee stepped out soon after, once she had given both kyungsoo and chanyeol proper instructions. as soon as the light _click clack_ of her heels could no longer be heard, chanyeol visibly relaxed, his chest deflating and posture slackening.

"shit, she's scary," chanyeol breathed, his long, nimble fingers working at his puffy silver hair. kyungsoo's head snapped to face chanyeol, who observed him with an unreadable expression on his face. in the space between moments, kyungsoo's eyes screwed themselves shut with laughter, surprising both chanyeol and himself.

and he laughed hard, like he hadn't done so in years. chanyeol simply put his fingers to his mouth and watched kyungsoo with an intangible glow to his features. his heart swelled, just the tiniest bit. kyungsoo's hair flopped away from his smooth forehead as he swung his head back, eyes crinkled at the edges and pink mouth open wide.

at the rate this was going, chanyeol wasn't quite sure whether kyungsoo's laughter was one of delight or sleepless paranoia. either way, it was heartwarming and frankly, quite charming. perhaps he wasn't cut from marble, a faceless, expressionless slab of stone, as chanyeol had first suspected.

once kyungsoo's laughter had died down and he wiped the beginnings of a tear away from his eye, he finally managed to look straight at chanyeol. chanyeol had hidden the heart of his smile behind a broad palm. they tried to interpret each other; _what could he possibly be thinking?_

all kyungsoo managed to decipher was his burning contempt at how overly tall and _grand_ chanyeol was. it brought a slow boil to his blood for the most laughable reason; he hated that he was so short and so solid and that others, namely chanyeol, managed to be so effortlessly elegant.

that brought on another wave of contempt. he was no lee jongsuk; the only reason he was sitting in this dim, expensive room was because sohee tried so damn hard to keep the image of iseok alive, even though it had been almost ten years since he had taken on that role.

kyungsoo sighed. there was no use in stewing in his self-hatred until it overtook his mind. it was time to finish what he was actually here for. "so, _hyung_. . . are you going to do my makeup or what?"

chanyeol blinked, eyes still slightly crossed from his attentive gaze towards kyungsoo's minor existential crisis. the apples of his high cheekbones burned red with embarrassment. _how did he know that i was his hyung?_

he fumbled at the brown leather makeup pouch fixed around his thin waist. "oh—kyungsoo, of course, i—"

kyungsoo sat back and observed the clumsy sight as chanyeol pulled out primer and foundation with limited agility. although kyungsoo worried for the state that his face was sure to be in once chanyeol finished, he couldn't help the microscopic lilt to his lips at chanyeol's puppy-like state.

though kyungsoo didn't know, chanyeol caught that brief show of unadulterated emotion. his confidence soared, and he placed his long fingers under kyungsoo's soft chin to tilt his face up.

kyungsoo hummed quietly, unconsciously, as chanyeol's strong, callused hands moved over his porcelain cheeks, veined eyelids, rounded chin.

(kyungsoo didn't miss the blistering burn of chanyeol's index finger as it ran under his heavy bottom lip. he did, however, ignore it.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm really terrible with updates, and i'm sorry about that !! if anyone's actually reading this, i promise i'll do my best.


	3. mascara

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank u guys for sticking with me !!! enjoy this chapter (even tho it's shit lmao)

___

"what the hell is that?" kyungsoo winced, his voice heavy with sleep-deprivation yet still peculiarly alert. chanyeol hovered in front of him, his sizeable hands warm on kyungsoo's skin as he held him in place. his silvery hair, as sloppy and unkept as ever, gleamed under the low lighting of the studio. the stick of mascara he held in his right elicited a groan from a very exasperated kyungsoo, who continued, "isn't mascara for girls? why're you trying to put some on me?"

"kyungsoo. your foundation, primer, bronzer, lipstick, and eyeshadow are all supposedly 'for girls', as you so eloquently put it; yet, you have absolutely no problem with me applying any of it on you. why should mascara be any different?" the hard tone that had wormed its way into chanyeol's voice was unusual, wholly unlike his soft, bumbling personality. kyungsoo most definitely sensed the shift as well, for he pressed his thick lips into a tight line, halting the words that may have come loose from the back of his throat.

pleased, chanyeol hummed as he uncapped the obviously pricey mascara. "look up," he said, reverting to the slight, bubbly persona that kyungsoo had grown to tolerate. and he did just that, allowing his wide eyes to roll forward as chanyeol's fingers returned to the side of his face.

his hands were mild yet arid on kyungsoo's skin, a strangely calming sensation. the strong scent of chanyeol's perfume, something not quite identifiable—slightly woody, though the underlying warmth of orange could be deciphered in the midst—drifted pleasantly by him, quite nearly lulling him to sleep.

that was, of course, until chanyeol jabbed kyungsoo straight in the eye with the bristled stick, coated tar-thick.

"ow!" kyungsoo's slender fingers closed around his eyes in a show of pain and displeasure as he jumped forward in his seat, head bent and mouth screwed foully. chanyeol stumbled back, his face aflame with embarrassment and distress. this unprofessionalism was uncalled for, though not quite baffling, as chanyeol was known to be quite clumsy. (to be fair, however, they were truly past the point in which civility was to be readily expected).

chanyeol fumbled around for a tissue, rag, anything to clean up the mess kyungsoo had made of his careful makeup, courtesy of the salty tears spilling down his cheeks. "oh my god, kyungsoo, shit, i'm so sorry, fuck—"

once chanyeol's fingers grasped the makeup wipes tucked away in his leather pouch, he immediately got to work. he nudged kyungsoo's hands away from his tear-stained face, and began to gently wipe away at the rough tracks that had started to form on silken skin.

"i told you not to put mascara on me," kyungsoo sniffled, his voice low yet atypically fond. how someone who had just gotten jabbed in the eye could remain so serene—especially someone as grouchy and ill-tempered as kyungsoo—did not fail to impress chanyeol.

his chest ached with something sharp, something new, as his hands traced a path across the florid flesh under kyungsoo's swollen eyes. he removed as much as he could, until all that remained before him was the reddened expanse of kyungsoo's skin, his wide, analytical eyes, a lush mouth hanging open.

kyungsoo looked absolutely ravishing in the low light, even with eyes dyed such a worrying crimson, so much better than chanyeol could ever remake or enhance.

chanyeol's head spun with the foreign thoughts, whispering past his throat and over his heart, through his lungs and into his gut. and there was simply nothing that he could do about it.


End file.
